Figure | Cheng Shifa Painting "Portrait of Wu Jingzi"
Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river.
At first glance, this statement sounds a bit childish.
It's like a person who shouts in front of you, asking you not to deceive the poor, a strong breath of pretense.
Interestingly, this sentence comes from the History of Rulin. Wu Jingzi, who wrote this book, is a person who hates pretending to be forced the most.
What story is this book about? To put it bluntly, it is the story of a landlord pretending to be a good person, a literati pretending to be a celebrity, and a rogue pretending to be a chivalrous person.
A "History of Ru Lin", like someone using a silver spoon, cut open the gorgeous packaging of society, and dig out the darkest and dirtiest flesh and blood inside.
Figure | From the show "Travel with Books"
In today's society, people often hold up such meat in front of you and ask you whether to eat it or not.
You say, don't eat.
The man said, little fart, what to pretend.
Wu Jingzi said, pretend to be your uncle.
In ancient times, a brother of the Shuxiang Mendi had all kinds of ways to live.
Wu Jingzi, living a little out of place.
Familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics, take the meritorious name, this is a stupid talent. Love to read novels, lewd words, script legends, this is a strange person. Taking office with his father, obeying the law, this is a self-motivated young man.
A little clever, not very powerful. A little idealistic, no big ambition. Life has not gone crooked, nor has it gone right.
Wu Jingzi first experienced the adult world after his father's death.
He had two fathers, one biological and one heir. The heir's father is the long house, and the biological father is the second house.
The more fathers, the more inheritance, the more inheritance, the more jealousy.
When Wu Jingzi was 18 years old, his biological father was gone, and he had just changed into Xiucai's green shirt.
Figure | Portrait of Wu Jingzi
Five years later, his father lost his official position for no reason and died depressed.
While he was still immersed in grief, something went wrong at home.
How big the family is, how hypocritical the human heart is. The things that called the clan people were actually jackals had already taken aim at his family property. At first, there were still some concerns, but when the fathers died of illness, they finally showed their fangs.
Wu Jingzi was arrogant by nature, did not like to pretend, could not handle these worldly feelings, and had been away with his father for a long time and had never handled housework. So when those uncles and uncles came to fight for the family property, no one spoke for him and broke the siege for him.
Some people fall into the well, some people look at it coldly, and some people pretend to be posture.
Looking back, there was only one old servant who had followed him for many years.
How does a chick break the wrist of those old foxes?
Most of the family property was taken away, very few were left, the quarrel gradually stopped, and everything seemed to return to calm.
Figure | Qian Ye painting
But Wu Jingzi was a pure gongzi brother, who was useless except for a slightly aura head. He has never been accustomed to governing life, has no ability to earn money, and likes to drink and sing, and to save money for righteousness. Soon sit and eat the mountain empty. Finally, his wife, Tao, fell ill in poverty and left him.
Sometimes, he would wander alone to Chengjia City, far from the county seat. There, there is also a grass hall where the ancestors made their fortunes.
The grass is green, the houses are decadent, and there is a lonely person.
The manor that used to bloom is now not a green and broken house.
The great truths in all the sages are no bigger than the scenery in front of you.
Thirty and standing.
At the age of 29, Wu Jingzi once again shocked the lifters.
He did not participate in the scientific expedition once, and years of failure made him feel uncomfortable.
In his spare time, he would also think: What is the imperial examination?
As a talented literati, after he incarnated as a writer of eight strands, he was still repeatedly famous in Sun Shan, and some bullshit articles could even ascend to the elegance.
As a scholar who has been familiar with the books of the sages since childhood, he looks at these students with a clear breeze and bright moon on the surface, but a belly full of male thieves and female prostitutes.
The most ridiculous thing is that he is in this environment, is there any other way but to pretend?
Before and after the exam, I would always drink and talk with three or two friends and spit acid.
Especially when I drank it, the depression in my stomach suddenly came up, and I began to ignore it.
Zhang San's article is almost flattering, preferring to tell some big truths.
Li Si is a person who has no talent to learn, but he has a good father.
Wang Wu, Who is Wang Wu.
I don't know which tongue is big enough to spread these drunken words.
As a result, Wu Jingzi became famous and received an evaluation of "article good people and monsters".
As a result, some examiners decided not to hire him.
After waking up, Wu Jingzi, like a man who has a disorderly sex after drinking and has a little sense of responsibility, suddenly has six gods and no master, his soul is scattered, and his mind is "forgiven" and the word "forgiveness" is obtained.
Remorseful, he fell to the ground and crawled in front of the examiners and begged them for admission.
He was answered only by a mountain-like reprimand.
This reprimand shocked him into darkness, forcing him to open his eyes and see what this path of examination was.
He saw the arrogant examiner, he saw the power behind him, he saw the mocking scholars, he saw their wanderings and fanaticism.
It feels like someone has handed over a piece of meat.
Wu Jingzi tasted it, and it was full of bugs. But everyone around can eat.
Someone asked him if you could eat or not.
He hesitated, but swallowed.
Later, a scholar cherished his talent and admitted him out of the box, which can be regarded as a preservation. However, the public opinion at that time was too bad, and in the township examination the following year, Wu Jingzi once again failed miserably.
The bookish was arrogant and fell directly into the ground.
That year, he was thirty. From then on, Wu Jingzi began to abandon the imperial examination.
His father passed away, his clan fought over the birth, his beloved wife died of illness, his family fell in the middle of the road, the imperial examination failed, and the townspeople hated it.
Life is not satisfactory, nine times out of ten, all for Wu Jingzi to meet.
But if you want to live in life, you always have to find a way out.
His choice was to move to the big city of Nanjing.
GIF | From the show "Travel with Books"
Nanjing is the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, and Wu Jingzi's most admired Wei and Jin demeanor comes from this side of the water and soil.
Since the Ming Dynasty, commerce has flourished here and it is a holy place for wealth. The economy is developed, and there are many people looking for things to do politics, so this is also a cultural flourishing place, known as the "hub of the heavens".
What could be better for a down-and-out student?
Figure 12 | Light and Shadow Swordsman © - Nanjing Yuyuan
But Nanjing did not believe in tears.
When Wu Jingzi came to Nanjing, most of the time he could only sell his craft and write to people to survive. If the market is sluggish, take the books or clothes on your body at home and pawn them. There was really no way out, so I could only beg my friends for help.
Every year in the winter, the temperature is bitterly cold, in order to resist the cold, he and his friends go around the city at night, singing and shouting, calling it "warm feet".
Fortunately, life opened a new window for him, and here he saw many people, old friends, new knowledge, small people in the city, and dignitaries and nobles.
Less cynical, more sophisticated.
In that year, the Erudite Hongzi Department was opened, which was equivalent to a special move. Under the recommendation of his friend, Wu Jingzi handed over several test pieces praising the light, and rushed to the level of the court test.
But his feelings were very mixed, on the one hand, he was eager to try, and on the other hand, he hesitated.
He wants to get a meritorious name, he wants to honor his ancestors, and he wants to enter the system for a lifetime without worry.
But at the same time, there is a thorn in the heart.
That year, he begged for forgiveness, the examiner reprimanded him, and the scholars laughed at him.
In this year's examination room, there will be many shows for the world's deceitful and famous people.
This entanglement made his weak body suddenly sick.
When you don't know what to choose, flip a coin, because the moment the coin is thrown away, the answer in your heart will come out.
This serious illness is probably the coin in Wu Jingzi's heart.
His choice was clear: to renounce the opulence of the court and move towards the freedom of the grass.
In the end, Wu Jingzi did not go to the test "due to illness".
There is one less Yuanlang in the world, which is harmless; there is one more Wu Jingzi, fortunately even Ya.
Some people accused him of not being called, and he sneered lightly: "Since I was born in a prosperous world, it is useless to come out and become an official." Relying on poetry and song to give Bo an official position, even if he has achieved the degree of Sima Xiangxiang, what is there to be proud of? ”
Since then, he has even given up his birth status and never took all the imperial examinations again.
He was completely out of the way.
This time, someone brought the piece of meat up and asked him if he wanted to eat it.
He decided to write down the piece of meat, the delicate appearance of the piece of meat, and every maggot that squirmed inside.
This book is called "The History of Rulin's Outer History."
Since then, Wu Jingzi's life has been simple.
Poor travel, writing books, writing books, poor travel.
Then, at the age of fifty-four, he died.
Looking back at his life, there is a little setback, no big grievance. A loser's life, there is nothing to remember.
Most people will scold him for pretending: a sour Confucian will only grumble.
If he wins, it must be the same as Fan Jin in his pen.
However, only after reading the "History of Ru Lin", can we know the profundity of Wu Jingzi. He ripped open the emperor's new clothes and revealed the true appearance of the so-called prosperous world.
The soldiers dress up as sages, the rogues as heroes, the landlords as gentlemen, and the officials as qingtian. Boasting, being unashamed, being clever, being self-defeating, deceiving the world, pretending to be high...
The words of the saints are not necessarily false, and most of the people who love to say the words of the saints are false.
The imperial examination is not necessarily bad, and most of the sentient beings under the examination system are not good.
Morality is not necessarily hypocritical, and most people who love morality are hypocritical.
Figure | Borrow the light ©
I remember that there was such a plot in the History of Rulin.
There is a great hero who is accustomed to seeing uneven roads and drawing swords to help each other, and is honored as a guest by two princes who love martial people.
One day, he took back a bag oozing with blood, and said that I had beheaded the enemy's family, and now I want to run away, and you two will reward you with some money?
As soon as the two princes heard that this was a major event in the jianghu, they were happy to take revenge and immediately paid for it.
After the hero left, the boys found that the bag turned out to be a pig's head.
The chivalrous people of this world are more or less like this.
As Wang Shuo said, "You have to be careful of the bad people in this world, they are all holding back to teach you to learn well, and then let them make it bad." ”
Wu Jingzi, more than two hundred years ago, said this truth.
You guys, pretend what is sublime.
Figure | Statue of Wu Jingzi
Part of the image from: the program "Travel with Books"